


Eight Candles

by cowboykylux



Series: Zannah's 12 Days of Oneshots [4]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, F/M, Fluff, Hanukkah, Hanukkah Fluff, Hanukkah Party, Implied Violence, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Related, Mob Boss Kylo, Mob Wife Reader, Mobster Kylo, No Dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:20:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21825811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboykylux/pseuds/cowboykylux
Summary: There’s no rush tonight, nothing to worry about, nothing to be bothered with.Well.There is one thing, one person, someone who has attended the party who isn’t exactly welcome. One person who had slighted you a month or so ago, had gone behind all your backs. What was the expression, a wolf in sheep’s clothing?What do you call it when the room is full of wolves?
Relationships: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren/Reader, Kylo Ren/Reader, Kylo Ren/You
Series: Zannah's 12 Days of Oneshots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1569352
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53





	Eight Candles

_Eight candles_

_On a plain afternoon_

_On a cold windowsill looking out_

_At December_

You and Kylo are sitting among your family at the beautifully decorated venue. A stranger passing by would have thought it was a wedding, not the Hanukkah party your family threw every year. You and Kylo’s families had always been the best of friends, and the annual Hanukkah party was merely an excuse for everyone to get together. You hadn’t seen so many mobsters in one room in ages, everyone in their finest suits and dresses, shoes and heels shiny and sparkly and all gussied up for the occasion.

It was held at a ballroom in the Plaza Hotel, the entire space rented out for this, the first of an eight-night family get-together. The Plaza had done the space up beautifully, a silver wonderland with accents of navy blue. The lights are golden and soft, chandeliers dimmed low so that the huge hanukkiah garners the most attention.

It’s an heirloom of your family’s, the very same hanukkiah that your great-grandfather brought to America from the old country, passed down from generation to generation. Kylo’s uncle, Rabbi Luke was the one to light it, to lead you all in prayer, and now that the wicks were lit and the wax was slowly melting, dinner had been served.

You and Kylo are seated among the family, but at your own special table, a table fit for only the heads of the family, the big bosses. You, Kylo, Gwen, and Rey are with Kylo’s Uncle Lando, who isn’t really his uncle. Well, he’s everyone’s Uncle, isn’t he? Aren’t they all?

Waitresses and waiters bring the food and take it away, and there’s a happy quiet chatter as two hundred people from all sides of the family combined catch up from not seeing one another all year.

You aren’t in the mood to talk, not tonight. Tonight you’re here with Kylo, and once he’s cleared his second helping of dinner, he holds his hand out to you, gesturing with a nod of his head towards the dance floor.

_Where they’re waiting_

_Waiting for the sun to give up_

_Till the passions of red are below the horizon_

_All at once_

You smile, take his warm hand eagerly. The music is his favorite kind, like something out of a bond film, or the old 60s soft rock scene. It’s echoey and far away, dreamy, but all together modern at the same time. Like it could be elevator music, or the soundtrack to your life, depending on the life you decide to live.

It’s too fast for a waltz, so you ballroom instead, many other couples in the family joining in with you. You laugh as your young cousins run around in their kippahs and bows, and Kylo does his best not to scowl when they dart between you for a moment – your aunt apologizing profusely.

There’s no rush tonight, nothing to worry about, nothing to be bothered with.

Well.

There is one thing, one person, someone who has attended the party who isn’t exactly welcome. One person who had slighted you a month or so ago, had gone behind Gwen’s back – had gone behind all your backs. What was the expression, a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

What do you call it when the room is full of wolves?

You look at Kylo, give him a raise of your eyebrow, and he only takes your hand in his, kisses the knuckles there. 

He had promised, earlier, that the wayward cousin would be made an example of, but he hadn’t told you how. You trust him, trust that he won’t let the rat go free. So while he kisses your knuckles, a silent answer to an unspoken question, you let yourself relax against him, in his embrace.

You’re proud of him, for being this social. He hasn’t spoken a single word all evening, but then again, he doesn’t have to. He has you to speak for him, has you to catch up and mingle, has you to smile and toast glasses, has you to carry the conversations he doesn’t have any patience for.

You’re proud of him, for agreeing to come at all. He isn’t that big a fan of these parties, of any parties for that matter. He’s self-conscious about the scar which splits his face, only barely healed and still emotionally raw. He’s worried the children will laugh and point, but they do no such thing – instead they keep telling him how cool it makes him look, like a proper gangster. He had cracked a small smile at that.

_They’re a-light and the window’s aglow_

_Teasing shadows with nowhere to go_

_So they watch at the curtain with you_

_Eight candles_

He’s so handsome, you think. He’s wearing the new suit, the one you managed to have tailored just in time, tailored to fit his broad broad broad shoulders. It’s from the 60s, that clean and classic look that Kylo fancies so much. It’s black wool, because of course it is, but you’ve folded a navy blue satin kerchief into his breast-pocket, a silver tie tucked into the waist-coat.

He’s careful to not step on your feet, careful not to scuff your loubitons with his, red bottoms unscathed from never being worn.

His eyes are so brown, sparkling in the low light, candles all around you, lining the dance floor. You know that in the real world, you’re in a sea of family members all dancing, but in your head, in your eyes, it’s just the two of you. No one else exists, and you smile when he’s just as lost in your gaze as you are in his.

He leans down for a soft kiss, and you meet him more than halfway. You let out a pleased, happy sigh at the peace of the evening, your stomach pleasantly warmed from the hearty meal. Kylo steals one of his hands away from your waist for a moment to fish out a cigarette and light it. Technically smoking wasn’t allowed inside, but this was Kylo Ren – he could do whatever he wanted.

You watch him fondly as he puffs plumes into the air, leans down to kiss you again.

He tastes like ash, but then again, when doesn’t he? Ash and wine and honey all mixed into one, your man. He closes his eyes and presses his forehead against yours, rubs your noses together. You’re so close, breathing in each other’s air, candles just on the edge of the dance floor turned into a sprinkling of twinkling halos.

_Eight candles_

_Watch us holding our hands_

_See us moving our lips in a chorus of silence_

_And they burn on_

As you dance, you notice something, someone, walking around on the upper balcony. It’s one of the Knights of Ren, Kylo’s personal squad of bodyguards. You catch one of their eyes, give them a smile. They don’t smile back, but they do nod, give you an acknowledging wave.

You follow their movement with your eyes, watch as they walk walk walk around the upper balcony. They descend the stairs, stay hidden in the comforting darkness behind the stone pillars which support the ornate ceiling.

Two of them slip out the back door, and no one notices but you, because why would they? With the Manischewitz flowing, lips stained ruddy red from the sticky sweet wine, why would anyone bother to pay attention to a bodyguard leaving out the back door?

You raise an eyebrow at Kylo again, and he only exhales up into the air. Warm circles glow around the candles on the hanukkiah, and in the low light, you and Kylo are entranced with one another as the flame flickers and crackles and dips, dancing dancing dancing on the wick.

You wondered the implications of everything, how angry those who didn’t know, would be. But like with most things, you find out eventually, you always find out. Gwen and Rey dance next to you, give you questioning glances and looks, which Kylo pointedly ignores. 

_They’re alive and the window’s aglow_

_Teasing shadows with nowhere to go_

_So they watch at the curtain_

_With you_

You know then that he’s done something, or at the very least, is going to. Kylo didn’t take rats lightly, the last person to go against the family, to feed information to the hungry pigs always on your heel, had been stabbed through the heart and tossed off a bridge.

Your husband wasn’t exactly known for his subtlety.

He spins you gently, twirls you only enough so that your dress flutters as it wraps around your legs. You wonder what it’s going to be, how it’s all going to go down. It wouldn’t do to kill him here, so clearly if the Knights are up to anything, it’s nothing deadly.

Perhaps an abduction? The KoR storming in with their big guns drawn, storming in with your cousin in sight, storming in with cuffs and ties and a bag to throw over his head?

Or perhaps a warning shot to the stomach?

Or maybe even still, a slicing of the throat, removal of an ear? Just a little something to show Kylo means business – you _all_ mean business. You shift your glance back to the cousin, schmoozing and wining and dining like he doesn’t know what’s coming. And maybe, maybe he doesn’t. 

But maybe he does, because suddenly he’s reaching into his pocket for his car keys, twirling them around and around his finger, much the same way Kylo’s twirling you.

The cousin can sense something is wrong, he can sense it. Maybe it’s the way you’re looking at him, glaring. Maybe it’s the way he can tell he’s been found out, as more and more eyes turn. Not all the eyes, but enough, enough to tell him to leave. So he does the right thing and goes.

You follow his movements just as you had the KoR, as he says his goodbyes and slips out the very same back door, the very same one that the KoR are returning through. Kylo turns his gaze to meet his bodyguards expectantly, and they make their way down through the dance floor, assume their positions around the both of you.

_Eight candles_

_Disappearing for good_

_And your eyes lose the light till it comes back tomorrow_

_Eight more candles_

_Till the shadows have reached the horizon_

When the explosion outside goes off, and the car is engulfed in flames of bright yellow red orange from a pipe hidden in the engine, or strapped underneath the frame, or or or, you and Kylo can only look at one another, quiet smirks exchanged as he leans down to kiss you.

You kiss and dance, your hands in hand, wrapped around his shoulder and your waist. The screams and sounds of shock from the rest of the family fade into the background. In the soft light of the ballroom, with all the kids running to the window to try and get a glimpse at the limo that’s no more, it’s all you can do to stare into each other’s eyes lovingly.

No words exchanged, nothing but teasing smiles and knowing grins, those rare dimples of his making a special holiday appearance, nose rubbing gently against yours, exhaling the smoke from his cigarette delicately, clouding the air only for a moment before it disappears. You lean in to kiss him once more, a silent thanks and declaration of love for all to see, not that anyone had any doubts.

Outside the traitor burns to a crisp, blown to pieces along with the shattering glass of his windows and doors. But inside, you and Kylo are safe and warm. And when the song drifts to an end, as people run in slow motion all around you, you lean your head on Kylo’s chest and close your eyes, stepping round and round to the beat of the soft music.

_Eight candles_

_Eight more candles_

_Eight more candles_

_Eight more candles…_

**Author's Note:**

> Another Hanukkah fic! <3
> 
> This story is part of my 12 Days of Oneshots, where every day leading up to the first night of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve, there will be a short oneshot around 2k in length of our favorite boys! Each oneshot is based off my favorite holiday songs, but you won't know who gets which until the day it's posted!
> 
> Be sure to join in the fun over on my tumblr, where you can see the masterlist for the series and, if you'd like, guess which character gets which song in the upcoming days :)
> 
> Wishing you all very happy holidays this year <333


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